


Love in Green and Gray

by abbyfran, OvereducatedAndOverworked



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bruises, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 09:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11644041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbyfran/pseuds/abbyfran, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OvereducatedAndOverworked/pseuds/OvereducatedAndOverworked
Summary: After Puppeteer, Marinette finds Chat's bruise marks all over her body.  How does she react, and most importantly, what does she tell him?!





	Love in Green and Gray

**Author's Note:**

  * For [unicornspaceinvasion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unicornspaceinvasion/gifts).



> Okay, bit of a weird soulmate AU, but: when your soulmate gets a bruise, you get the same bruise in the same place. Now naturally, being superheroes, Adrien and Marinette get thrown around a fair bit...

“You feeling any better?” Ladybug asked Chat Noir, who was rubbing his torso from when he’d been flung off of the TV station during the fight with Puppeteer.

“A little, my lady,” he replied, “but I’m sure a kiss would make it all better.”

“Not happening,” she remarked, “but you’d better be careful so you don’t fall off the roof.”

“I’m sure you could save me,” he replied with a wink, but she could tell that he was suppressing a wince.

“Did the clean-up not help it?” she asked, concern lacing her tone.

“Nah, but don’t worry about me,” he replied, rising to his feet.  “It always clears up in a couple of days.  Cat-ch you on the flip side, Bugaboo!”  And with that, he leapt to the next rooftop and bounded away, his hesitance barely visible, though still obvious to Ladybug.

She sighed, but knew that it was late, and that she should probably go to bed too.  She took out her yo-yo and made her way past the Paris districts, finally arriving at her balcony.  She opened her window, trying not to make a great deal of noise and failing, before whispering, “Spots off.”

Tikki immediately appeared before her, and asked, “Are you sure you’re alright, Marinette?  You fought off five akumas tonight.”

“I’m fine,” Marinette said, before taking her shirt off to change into her pajamas from her school clothes, and gasped.  She gently ran her fingers over her torso, wincing as she found that her shoulders, chest, and stomach were absolutely covered in bruises.  “What do you think happened?!”

“It’s probably just your soulmate,” Tikki reassured her.  “You were fine before the fight, right?”

“Yeah, I was,” Marinette hesitantly confirmed, “but doesn’t the Miraculous typically take care of all of my injuries?”  She swept over her skin, checking for tenderness, but found that the only odd part was the green-brown marks of her soulmate’s pain.

“The suit usually does,” Tikki explained, “but sometimes it can leave the surface-level marks when there’s more important injuries to deal with.”

“But how would that leave this much damage still?” Marinette’s voice trembled ask she asked.

“This level?” Tikki flew around her stomach, gently tapping her skin.  “Probably internal bleeding.  The deepest colors represent dark marks, but the Miraculous have always healed those who need it.”  Tikki flew to her shoulder, and looked into Marinette’s eyes as she slowly said, “Especially for those who wield them.”

“That’s impossible, Tikki!” Marinette cried, finishing changing and gently rubbing the bruise shadows.  “The Miraculous always fixes me up, and the only person who really got hurt tonight was…”  Her voice trailed off as her thoughts suddenly collided, and she gasped.  “Chat!”  She looked at Tikki, who slowly nodded in confirmation.  “But that’s impossible!  Chat couldn’t be my soulmate, could he?”

“It’s not unheard of for Ladybug and Chat Noir to be soulmates,” Tikki spoke hesitantly, “and it is in fact very common.  They tend to choose wielders who will be together in and out of battle, regardless of other circumstances.”

“But then, that means…” Marinette’s head fell into her hands as she groaned.  “My soulmate is a pun-spewing cat.”

“Looks like,” Tikki said, before going into her own little hiding place in Marinette’s bed, leaving her alone with her revelation.

* * *

 

“Hey, Marinette, can I talk to you?” Nino whispered to her at school the next day, with a rather worried expression.  “I need to ask you something.”

“Are you sure that this can’t wait for lunch?” She whispered back, taking a hesitant look at Miss Bustier’s turned back during their supposedly-silent history reading time.  She seemed to be distracted talking to Chloe and Sabrina for the third time that day.

Nino shook his head, but took a piece of paper and scrawled down a few sentences, before handing her the sheet.   _‘Well, the thing is, I need your advice on something.  Adrien showed up today with a bunch of bruises on him, and he won’t talk to me about them.’_

Marinette’s cheeks reddened, but determined to be helpful, she wrote, _‘What kind of bruises?  Maybe his soulmate just fell down yesterday or something’_ , and passed it back down to Nino.

‘ _Deep ones,’_ his pencil wrote deeper.  _‘He has them all down his shoulders, and down his torso, almost to his hips.  All purple and green and gray, and they look fresh, too.’_

Marinette’s face turned ashy, and she stand up straight, adjusting her shirt to cover her own bruises.  What if…?  _‘Maybe he just had a rough day in fencing practice?’_

 _‘That’s not it, and we both know it.’_   Nino turned to look at her with wide eyes as she read, before glancing at Adrien.  _‘But if that’s not it, what is?’_

Marinette’s brain was running at lightning speed.  Bruises from hips to shoulders?  Blond hair?  Green eyes?  Puns?  _‘I’m not sure’_ , she writes, _‘but I’m promising you that I’m gonna find out.’_  


End file.
